The Best of Star Trek: Next Generation

[Huntn]

Do you remember the good old days when a TV season was 20+ episodes? If you can believe it, the first season of Star Trek: Next Generation had 26 episodes! I have the complete DVD collection and I've wondered why they look relatively crappy and have hoped for a Blu Ray version of the collection. Here is why it currently does not exist and explains why the DVDs don't look very good:

Blu Ray of Star Trek The Next Generation A Possibility:

During a presentation at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas (Aug 2010), a question was asked about a Blu-ray release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. CBS Consumer Products VP John Van Citters replied that an HD remaster of TNG is "incredibly difficult without making them look awful." However, there are conversations going on within CBS on the issue, and Van Citters expected it to happen eventually.

The Digital Bits goes into further detail as to why a high-definition remaster of The Next Generation is much more problematic than of the older Star Trek: The Original Series. TNG was shot on film, but all post-production and visual effects were done on standard-definition analog video. As Bits editor Bill Hunt states, "if they just simply digitally upconverted from 480i to 1080p, there's NOBODY who would want to buy that on Blu-ray". Therefore, the only solution left is to scan all the original camera negatives, edit it again in HD, and redo all FX using computer graphics, like CBS did with the remastered versions of The Original Series.

In depth espisode list info located here:
* Memory Alpha Next Generation Episode List- easier to navigate then the Startrek.com link.
* Star Trek.com Episode List

Best of SEASON ONE

* Encounter At Farpoint, Part 1 and 2: Series Launch Episodes. Q challenges Human Being's worthiness.
* The Naked Now- As a result of a contagion, the crew becomes uninhibited and among other events, Tasha Yar and Data get it on.
* The Last Outpost- Meet the Ferengi.
* Justice- The perfect un-inhibited planet full of hot babes. Just don't break any rules as Wesley Crusher finds out the hard way even though it's an accident.
* Hide and Q- All Q episodes are mandatory.
* Haven- Deanna Troi is expected to marry and her mother takes a shine to Picard.
* The Big Goodbye- First Dixon Hill holodeck episode.
* Datalore- Data meets his evil brother Lore.
* Angel One- Women rule and men look pretty.
* 11001001- Bynars try to steal from the Enterprise while supposedly fixing it.
* When the Bough Breaks- When your defenses are killing you.
* Home Soil- Terraformers meet micro intelligence.
* Coming of Age- Wesley tries for Starfleet Academy. Related to another episode Conspiracy.
* Heart of Glory- Klingon fugitives.
* Skin of Evil- A prominent crew member dies.
* We'll Always Have Paris- Time loops.
* Conspiracy- Aliens try to infiltrate and take over Starfleet.
* The Neutral Zone- Romulans and hint of the Crystiline Entity, the raveger of planets.

 

[obeygiant]

I've seen and enjoyed nearly all the Star Trek TNG episodes. But this one by far is the funniest.

 

[Designer Dale]

This one was interesting to me. Data builds a "daughter". It's in season 3, though.
The Offspring

BTW: What was the episode in which a captured Borg was isolated from The Collective and developed an independent personality?

Dale

 

[gkarris]

This one was interesting to me. Data builds a "daughter". It's in season 3, though.
The Offspring


Dale

And I think the one before it, "Yesterday's Enterprise", was awesome - definitely classic Sci-Fi...

 

[notjustjay]

This one was interesting to me. Data builds a "daughter". It's in season 3, though.
The Offspring

BTW: What was the episode in which a captured Borg was isolated from The Collective and developed an independent personality?

Dale

That was called I, Borg. A lovely play on words in multiple ways all at once.

I think my favourite Next Generation episodes were "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Inner Light" (both ranked very highly among the fans).

 

[maflynn]

This one was interesting to me. Data builds a "daughter". It's in season 3, though.
The Offspring

That was one of my favorites, as well as inner light.

Not to take this thread off track (or off trek ) but star trek enterprise had so much promise as a series they really messed up with poor plots. Too many plots had to do with time traveling aliens and what not. Lack of depth killed what was a great franchise.

 

[sportster]

I just recently re watched them all in order. Forgot how much I enjoyed Star Trek the Next Generation.

 

[Huntn]

My two favorite episodes are:

1. Genesis- Season 7, when a virus causes everyone to revert to their 'primitive' states. Worf turns into this 'thing' and wants to mate with Troi (or was it the Dr?) who I think turns into a salamander or some aquatic creature. After it's all over and people are killed, it's kind of silly but Troi lightly says something to the effect of , "I guess I'll have to keep my appointment book open for the next month" referring to all the psychiatric help she is going to have to offer the survivors.

2) The Series Final- All Good Things- That episode made so sad, because it was so excellent and it was the last one. It was about the temporal anomaly in the Devron System threatening all life in the Galaxy, with Picard flashing back and forward through time while Q is bugging him.

I won't be holding my breath for the Blu Ray version of the series to come out, but I'll be thrilled when it does. These shows are better than all of the Star Trek movies combined except for the most recent Star Trek reboot 2009.

 

[eawmp1]

Inner Light brings a tear to my eye during the pan back in the final scene.
Darmok and Family are excellent episodes.

 

[Detlev_73]

Give me "Face of the Enemy" (top priority) and "Reunification I & II" (second), and I'll be a happy Romulan.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Oh dear, this brings back happy memories. I'll bite - great idea for a thread.

I loved TNG, and (apologies to the OP as I intend to stray beyond Season One), some of my favourites were:

"Pen Pals" (a charming Data episode); "The Measure of a Man" (also featuring Data) from Season Two. "Yesterday's Enterprise" from Season Three was gritty and excellent, as was "Reunion" (Worf reunited with his feisty ex) and the episodes "Journey's End" and "The Pegasus" from Season Seven also impressed.

However, I also loved a few of the two-part episodes, a number of which achieved a depth of story-telling, tension, superb acting and a range of material few of the movies ever managed.

A few examples, all of which I loved, are as follows: Redemption I & II, (great episodes to do with Klingon politics); Chain of Command I & II (Patrick Stewart gave an extremely gutsy performance here); Best of Both Worlds, I & II (terrific, terrifying introduction to the Borg), Gambit I & II - terrific, sharp, funny narrative; Time's Arrow I & II - a hilarious and barbed look at 1890s life, an episode which included sardonic tributes to characters such as Samuel Clements and Jack London can't go wrong.

Cheers

 

[Huntn]

Oh dear, this brings back happy memories. I'll bite - great idea for a thread.

I loved TNG, and (apologies to the OP as I intend to stray beyond Season One), some of my favourites were:

Thank you and have at it. My intention was not to limit comments to Season 1. That's only as far as I've gotten in my review of all 7 seasons.

I really enjoyed 'A Measure Of a Man'.

What impressed the heck out of me was that in the space of 50 min or so they could flesh out a main plot along with 1 or 2 sub plots. The story telling had to be superb. This is why all of the ST movies except for the 2009 Reboot, disappointed me. They seemed to start with a bang and then fizzle filling up 2 hrs. The 2009 ST was outstanding. Too bad they did not fit in a tubby Kirk (William Shatner), from the future, lol.

I've also been disappointed in the later ST shows, Voyager and Enterprise. As I recall, the first or an early Voyager episode relied on a time anomaly story, 'did we cause this or are we reacting to this'? And I tried really hard with the first season of Enterprise, especially with an ultra-hot Vulcan who got lathered up after every away mission... but as compared to TNG, it seemed uninspired (at least to me). My apologizes to Voyager and Enterprise fans!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I find myself pretty much in total agreement with you. As a big fan of TNG (and I liked the original Star Trek and DSN, also), I have to say that Voyager (apart from a few good episodes) and Enterprise - to an even greater extent - more or less lost the plot. I stopped watching both of them quite early on.

Most of the movies, too, were a huge disappointment, all flash and no substance, unlike most of the two-part episodes of TNG (some of which were superb, and examples of really skilled, multi-faceted story-telling). The emsemble cast were excellent, too, and I think the fact that many of them were classically trained stage actors was also a telling factor in the sheer class of the show, as was the fact of the calibre of guest stars which TNG managed to attract (for example, Whoopi Goldberg, David Warner, and so on). And the level of story telling, and script writing, both of which were (mostly) excellent.

At the time it was first broadcast, I watched many of the episodes of TNG as they were broadcast, or video-taped them (which was something I did rarely), in order to watch them later.

Embarrassingly, there were even times I contemplated rescheduling bits of my life, in order to accommodate watching them, such as debating with myself (as a university teacher) whether I would accept the honour of adjudicating an interfaculty debate, and thereby miss TNG, rather than actually attend and adjudicate the debate. (I adjudicated the debate, mentally walloping myself on the wrist. I did not inform my students of my internal struggle).

None of the sequels or spin-offs inspired anything like that level of devotion, because they were nowhere like as good or as well made, nor as well told.

In fact, (but that is another story) the only TV programme in the past decade for which I have had a similar enthusiasm was Life On Mars and its sequel Ashes to Ashes (for which I guiltily admit I rescheduled classes I had to teach; not that this was the excuse I invoked.......)

Cheers

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Inner Light brings a tear to my eye during the pan pack in the final scene.
Darmok and Family are excellent episodes.

Agree entirely re The Inner Light; I forgot to mention it earlier. Stunning episode, absolutely brilliant (a superb performance from Patrick Stewart).

Cheers

 

[neko girl]

Tapestry is the best episode of the show.

From Wikipedia:
"Tapestry" is the 141st episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 15th episode of the show's sixth season. It is a follow-up episode to events in Picard's past described in the season two episode "Samaritan Snare".
The episode serves to provide character development of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who is featured in this episode to the general exclusion of the rest of the cast. It is also the penultimate series appearance of Q (John DeLancie). Its primary theme, explored in many other stories (starting with H.G. Wells' The Time Machine), is the effect on the present of changing the past. However, the primary literary theme is the balance of order and chaos within the individual.

 

[Mousse]

I've seen and enjoyed nearly all the Star Trek TNG episodes.

I take it you didn't like Shades of Gray (season 2, ep 22) either. The clip show where Riker fights off an infection. Gagh! I wish I could erase the episode from my memory.

BTW: What was the episode in which a captured Borg was isolated from The Collective and developed an independent personality?

Are you talking about the Borg, Hugh? That was part II of Descent (season 7, ep 1). I loved that episode.

Strange how loved seeing Q in TNG, but gawd, I couldn't stand the Voyagers episodes with Q.

 

[CalBoy]

Are you talking about the Borg, Hugh? That was part II of Descent (season 7, ep 1). I loved that episode.

Hugh's first appearance was actually in the episode I, Borg. Both that episode and Descent were pretty good.

I think my all time favorites would have to include Tapestry, The Inner Light, The Defector, and The Best of Both Worlds.

However, I think the all time most important episodes are Who Watches the Watchers, A Matter of Perspective, and Devil's Due.

Of course most episodes after Season 2 were pretty good (with some Season 7 exceptions), and the series overall was fantastic.

 

[Huntn]

Tapestry is the best episode of the show.

From Wikipedia:
"Tapestry" is the 141st episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 15th episode of the show's sixth season. It is a follow-up episode to events in Picard's past described in the season two episode "Samaritan Snare".
The episode serves to provide character development of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who is featured in this episode to the general exclusion of the rest of the cast. It is also the penultimate series appearance of Q (John DeLancie). Its primary theme, explored in many other stories (starting with H.G. Wells' The Time Machine), is the effect on the present of changing the past. However, the primary literary theme is the balance of order and chaos within the individual.

Is this pic supposed to be when he was a cadet? If so, he looks a little old.

I'm still working On Season 2 but here goes:
Best of Season Two
*Elementary, Dear Data- Holodeck episode with Dr. Moriarty!
*The Schizoid Man- Ira Graves takes over Data!
*A Matter of Honor- Riker serves on a Klingon Ship!
*Contagion- Neutral Zone and Romulans- what's not to love?
*Q Who?- A miffed Q who has been ejected from the Q Continuum and is not allowed to join the Enterprise crew, sends the Enterprise 7000 light years into uncharted reaches to meet... THE BORG! Yes THE BORG!
*Samaritan Snare- The slow Pakled are pretty cagey. but still on the slow side. It is revealed that Picard has a heart replacement based on an event while he was a cadet when he picked a fight with some Nausicaans.
*Up The Long Ladder- Two dissimilar groups of colonists have to mix and learn to live together. I love this episode.

I still need to look at Manhunt, The Emissary, Peak Performance and Shades of Grey.

I love the Borg episodes. My only critique- in the first meeting of the Borg the Enterprise in one salvo destroys 20% of the Borg Ship. If they had just kept at it, instead of stopping to investigate, it seems to me they could of defeated it handily.

 

[CalBoy]

My only critique- in the first meeting of the Borg the Enterprise in one salvo destroys 20% of the Borg Ship. If they had just kept at it, instead of stopping to investigate, it seems to me they could of defeated it handily.

That was Q's whole point though. The Borg cannot be treated like other races by the Federation. Piccard's (and the Federation's) ideal of peaceful exploration wouldn't work against a threat like the Borg.

And, in the end, Piccard's choice was the wiser one. Destroying the cube would not have allowed the away team to explore and learn about the Borg.

 

[Mousse]

Hugh's first appearance was actually in the episode I, Borg.

Oh, that's right. I stand corrected. My favorite episodes are the pilot (Encounter at Farpoint) and the series finale (All Good Things...). Both are Q arcs, so it's not surprising.

 

[Xeperu]

Inner Light



/thread.

ps. The Best of Both Worlds pt 1 and 2. combined would make a nice feature film. Better than those dreck TNG movies we got instead.

 

[neko girl]

Is this pic supposed to be when he was a cadet? If so, he looks a little old.

Q has transposed him in time. I won't ruin the rest of the episode, but you might notice the knife through his chest.

 

[Huntn]

That was Q's whole point though. The Borg cannot be treated like other races by the Federation. Piccard's (and the Federation's) ideal of peaceful exploration wouldn't work against a threat like the Borg.

And, in the end, Piccard's choice was the wiser one. Destroying the cube would not have allowed the away team to explore and learn about the Borg.

It turned our wiser because Q saved them in the end otherwise they would have been assimilated.

Q has transposed him in time. I won't ruin the rest of the episode, but you might notice the knife through his chest.

That (the knife protruding) is what prompted me to say he was looking a little old.

Just watched Man Hunt- An outstanding episode with the Enterprise bringing Antedeans (fishy people) to a conference on Pacifica along with Diana Troi's mother Lwaxana Troi who just happens to be in 'Phase', a betazoid midlife event that raises her sexual drive exponentially, hence the name of the episode. Lwaxana pursues Picard who seeks shelter in the Holodeck as Dixon Hill. This is STNG at it's finest along with Tapestry and the Series Final, All Good Things.

Sexuality is a frequent theme in STNG:

Naked Now:- Lt Yar and Data throwing inhibitions to the wind, not that Data has any.

Up The Long Ladder- - Plurality (polygamy) required for the Mariposians to survive.

Man Hunt- Lwaxana Troi on the hunt.

Neko, may I ask how you located this picture? I realize it is from wikimedia. Wondering how you found it? General search or a specific resource? Thanks.